G Scale news from around New Zealand MARCH 2014 · THE GARDEN WHISTLE A brass ‘Cowcatcher’ (no...

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MARCH 2014 ‐ G Scale news from around New Zealand ‐

Lee & Christine Collet's Rosebrook Railway Photo: Michael Hilliar

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Creating the ‘Maisie L’ Report & Photos: Derek Cooper, Auckland

About eighteen months ago I happened across the ‘ S w i f t S i x t e e n ’ w e b s i t e ( h t t p : / /www.swiftsixteen.co.uk). Trolling through the Products section the first item that caught my eye was the ‘Brass Tank Locomotive Body kit, 'Owain'. I’ll not lie to you, I was impressed. My one concern was that it was a ‘kit’ that consisted entirely of brass. I had never played around with brass kits at all in my life! Well, after having seen the model in action on YouTube, I took the leap and purchased the kit convinced I could find someone to put it together for me. In parenthesis, I also purchased an Accucraft Raleigh chassis from TrackShack (http://www.track-shack.com). Without going into too much detail, no-one was interested in building it for me. After much nail biting, stacks of anxiety and paranoia, not helped by confidence building phases such as “Don’t be a blouse”, and ‘I’ve seen girls with more fortitude and guts”, etc., I decided (no other option really) to do the work myself. John (Reinecke), although of South African heritage, supplied me with heaps of back chat and his Dremel soldering kit complete with various degrees melting point solder (the payment for hireage of said equipment and solder used is on the 10 year payback policy - at considerable interest I have to say).

Michael (Hillar) on the other hand, generously supplied me with the tools to punch the rivet lines

into the sheets of brass of the kit at, I hasten to add, nil cost. A true friend indeed! Right, so down to the business. I tried several attempts at soldering brass pieces together and quite quickly came to terms with the sort of skill levels required and what the ‘tools of the trade’ were going to be. John showed me the differences between using liquid ‘Weldwell Duzall Super Soldering Flux’ and the type of flux I had – ‘Fluxite Soldering Paste’. It saddens me to report that on hindsight, Johns flux product was the better (although personally I felt the product I used was more than sufficient for the task). The kit is not supplied with any written documentation. Everything you need to know is online and displayed pictorially. This was extremely new to me who is more familiar with the conventional and relies on the written word when it comes to technical tasks.

Fig 1 – Screen dump of the on-line ‘Instructions’ However, once I got my head around the concept, I found it relatively easy to understand and move through. I was also fortunate to have had the help of my Wi-Fi installed Samsung 10.1 tablet, which I constantly referred to beside me on the work bench. I soon found that as with anything technical, it pays to work the next step in the process through (and possibly memorize a couple in advance), rather than

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carry out the current step blindly hoping that the next instruction (read photo) dove-tails in with what you’re doing and the direction you’re headed in!

The model very quickly took shape. Before I knew it the water tanks, coal bunker and firewall were all in place.

The next phase was placing the unit onto the Ragleith to see if she matched up with the existing

holes. Nope, just a fraction out so there was some drilling and filling to do to get the body to align with the holes in the chassis. Nothing new about that.

Suprisingly, the roof which one had to bend to shape (thanks for the roller Henrik (Dorbeck)), fitted the cavity precisely once the ribs were soldered in place under the roof.

The only real difficult part I found in the construction of the model was the roof vent sliders which had to be soldered to the outside of the roof. Every time I applied heat to the solder on the outer section of the roof to bed the vent sliders into position, the solder holding the underside ribs would melt and either detach the ribs from the roof or move them out of alignment. To combat this, John suggested I use the spring metal binder clips to hold the ribs into position. It certainly worked a treat.

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So once the body was complete and I was happy with the fit to the Raglieth, I set about preparing it for painting.

• First I used some ‘dentistry’ tools to abrade the excess solder from various areas of the body. Then Micheal suggested that I sandblast the body with his NEW sandblaster. What a difference this process made to the finish of the metal.

• Once that was complete I washed the body

thoughly with soap and warm water and let dry.

• I then degreased and wiped the complete body down with ‘SCA Wax & Grease Remover’, and left it in the sun to completely dry the seams out.

• Once dry, I sprayed the body inside and out with ‘Wattyl Killrust Super Etch Primer’ (available from Supercheap in a 400mL spray can).

• Lastly, I took the body to a car paint shop in New Lynn and had them apply a Dulux two pot polyurethane to a slightly satin finish to the colour of my choice.

• The roof and smokebox I painted in ‘VHT (very high temperature) Flame Proof Header Paint 1300 -2000oF [704-1093oC]’ paint which resulted in a flatter (matt) finish (available in a 312g spray can), and placed both items in the BBQ preset to 200o C for half and hour. On hindsight I would paint both these items in ‘Dupli-Colour Engine Enamel 500 Low Gloss Black DE1634’. A more satin finish and really is of a personal choice.

• The brass dome I painted ‘Dupli-Colour Engine Enamel 500 Gloss Black’ to match in with the boiler of the locomotive. Dupli-Colour paints are available in 340g spray cans from Supercheap.

• I brush painted the grab irons in gloss brass colour.

• The coal (GRS Loco Coal SG1127 (http://www.grsuk.com) I glued into place by first pressing gladwrap into the coal bunkers, pouring in the coal (wetting the coal slightly with a mix of 1 drop detergent into about 200mils of water), and then applied ‘Selleys Aquadhere PVA Wood Glue’. I waited a couple of days for the PVA to harden, then gently extracted the coal from the bunkers and VERY carefully removed the gladwrap to let the PVA dry more rapidily in the hot sun.

Prior to securing the body to the Ragleith chassis, I modified the burner by wrapping it in 40 grid stainless steel mesh (a section cut out from a frying pan anti-fat splattering cover) and secured the mesh into place with three lengths of stainless steel wire (top, middle and bottom). This achieves two objectives in that it quietens the burner down, and makes it distribute the heat more efficiently along its length. Hopefully this will also improve the running time to this model, as this modification has to my Accucraft ‘Lyn’.

The round front spectacle lenses are actually glass that Micheal very graciously produced for me (at nil cost, true friend). They were a bit fiddly to install but the end result is fantastic. I a l s o f i t t e d B r a n d b r i t e ( h t t p : / /www.brandbright.co.uk) ‘Brake Hose’s’ (RSA4) to the front and rear.

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A brass ‘Cowcatcher’ (no part number identified), which I painted satin black, had to be modified ever so slightly by filing to accommodate around the existing Chopper Coupler on the chassis. To operate the Reverser in Maise L, I have installed a HK-T4A V2 radio control system with Turnigy (TGY-1800A) Micro Servo’s, purchased from Hobby King (http://www.hobbyking.com/). Thanks for all your help Chris (Drowley). However, all did not go well with my installation and I did experience one or two mishaps. For example the Turnigy Micro Servo has nylon gears and gave out after about 40 minutes of operation due to the resistance and/or friction of moving the Reverser. After discussing the problem with John I visited Hobby City in Mt Wellington, Auckland who’s staff were very helpfulI. Bottom line was that I purchased a Savox Micro Servo (SAV-SH-0262MG) of simular diamensions to the original except it has metal gears. Since Installation, this servo has performed without fault. Lastly, I have ordered Name and Works plates from Narrow Planet (http://www.narrowplanet.co.uk) in the UK. The Works plates have arrived and have been fitted, and once the Name plates arrive Maise L will be complete.

The building of the brass body kit took me about five days. Painting was three days. Installing the battery and servo’s and setting up the radio control -

about three days all up (due to me being an absolute first timer and not having a clue what I was doing). Finishing off the model with the acessories, burner, and then fitting the body and trimming - about another three or four days. All up, approximately two weeks or there abouts over a period of six to eight weeks. I should mention that Swift Sixteen refer in their website that this body will also fit the RoundHouse Lady Anne chassis. As a point of interest, if anyone is thinking of looking for a different locomotive brass body kit for a current locomotive chassis, than those currently available from commercial manufacturers, then I suggest you go and have a look at ‘Mikes Models’ website and the following two links: • http://www.mikes-models.co.uk/index.php?

main_page=index&cPath=1061_1063_1210_1086_1094. The brass kits on this page are 16mm scale designed for either the ‘Accucraft Edrig/Ragleth’ and the ‘RoundHouse Lady Anne’ chassis’.

• http://www.mikes-models.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1061_1063_1210_1092_1096. The brass kits on this page are 7/8ths

Scale designed for either ‘Accucraft Edrig/Ragleth’ and ‘RoundHouse Billy’ chassis’. Would I do this again? Without hesitation. I have learnt another skill set from this project and if I were to build this particular model again I would do things slightly differently – love hindsight. And I have to say one looks at this locomotive in a slightly different light. Its not every day that one builds a brass body kit to fit a locomotive chassis. I feel quite a sense of achievement. Of course none of this would have been achievable without the relentless patience from my wife Pauline, the constant lip and back-chat, positive help and

assistance offered from some very good friends (South African chappie included (unfortunately!)).

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Wairarapa 2014 Garden Railway Convention Attendees Reports

Henrik Dorbeck, Auckland Well we all turned up at the Wairarapa Club for the convention- and it was a lot of fun. Visiting Lloyd’s layout was interesting to see the concrete castings- something I had been considering for a time before I elevated my layout. It has given some food for thought if I were ever to lower it again. This was well followed up the next day with a visit and practical demonstration from Jeremy Were. Two different systems but both complementing each other in similarity. Then we followed a string of very nice layouts all with interesting themes and variations- some complete and some not quite so. I think the interesting thing also for me was to see the differing track types used in layout construction. Again it has firmed up my ideas on what is best used to achieve to view I want to portray. I went down with the view of seeing what other people do when creating a station layout and was surprised at how small they were. Very pleasantly surprised! My station area is quite large with many points etc., so I enjoyed seeing how an interesting layout can be created with minimal points. I came home with lots of photos of peoples layouts and station areas For me personally I think the most enjoyable part of the visit was the dinner where we gave Don Ellis his tank car- something we had been working on for months. This was just a fun thing but it was nice seeing the look on his face when he realized who

The start at Lloyd Dickens Photo: Lloyd Dickens

Lloyd’s “Viking” and Train Photo: Henrik Dorbeck

The tank car presented to Don Elis Photo: Henrik Dorbeck

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we were really talking about. Classic! The other was the fun we had at Dan Hughes place. The layout was superb and only topped off with Mike Hilliar’s control of the Aristocraft Revolution controller. Not only did he manage to control two trains with it but he managed to stage a head on collision of two of the trains AND I was there to document it for prosperity! Keep practicing Mike- you can do it in time to control your own system! ☺ Another layout I felt was superb is Dean Ellicock’s layout. This just goes to show you what can be achieved in a reasonably s ized garden and maximizing track and running rights in an area. The rockery fitted in superbly and everything on the layout complemented the sidings of the house. The green lawns, the corrugated sidings of the house, the rockery, the steel and sleepers included in the garden just all fitted into a wonderful scene. There were a lot of layouts that were starkly different in construction, style and details but personally, I struggle to pick a favorite from all the ones on offer. Many thanks to the Wairarapa Group for hosting a wonderful Weekend.

John Reinecke, Auckland

The convent ion was held in magnificent hot summer weather which was very fortunate as the focus of the convention was Garden Railway Tours

In the 17 years I have lived in New Zealand I am embarrassed to say that this was the first time I visited this wonderful part of the North Island and what a setting for Garden Railways with the pretty country side and mountains as a backdrop Sunday at Murray Clarke’s Photo: Michael Hilliar

Michael Hilliar, full on concentration Photo: Henrik Dorbeck

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It is difficult to pick a ‘stand out’ as each and every railway we visited had a completely different identity, packed with interesting features, and were all well thought out to maximise the space available. I was very impressed and came away with some new idea’s for my yet to be built railway

The folk that I met from the Wairarapa and Wellington Groups were most hospitable and are to be congratulated on a very well organised and interesting convention. Not to forget the great catering that was provided by a dedicated team of ladies from the group

With battery power coming more to the fore, the Saturday afternoon seminars by Chris Drowley and John Robertson were very interesting and, for a non electronically savvy person like myself, easy to grasp

A special thanks to Chris and Denise Drowley for their hospitality and for billeting me and, in the words of Arnold, I will be back, this time with my live steamer

Our First Convention Lyn McClure, Rangiora

An all-round fantastic weekend!!

Alf and I really didn’t know what to expect, but we were just blown away by the warmth and hospitality shown to us by (our train friends/ the people) of the North. Everyone made such an extra effort to make us feel welcome and part of the team.

As newer recruits to G scale we hadn’t seen too many different styles of layouts, and being able to view so

Lee Collett’s “Dry River Railroad” Photo: Michael Hilliar

Chris Drowley’s rail truck and trailer Photo: Lyn McClure

Jenny & Selwyn Taylor’s railway Photo: Lyn McClure

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Bruce Cropper, Auckland Lloyd Dickens, chairman of the organising panel, clearly has a secret hot line to the weather gods. The two days of the convention (as well as the day before and the day after) were dry, warm and sunny. Registration for the convention was at Lloyd's own house and garden, where he had just completed laying the basic track work for an ambitious layout depicting the Isle of the Man, and the convention began with an opening ceremony for the layout itself. The focus of the weekend was layout visits. Early among these was to one built by Lloyd's late brother. The property had since been sold, and we

many in such a short time has given us both heaps of ideas. So many it’s hard to know where to start. We were amazed by what can be done in such small places and awed by the larger ones.

It was a great time to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

After arriving home, first thing Tuesday morning, Alf was out with his tape measure, seeing if he could fit a loop in the front garden by the driveway, to join up with the existing line going to our storage area. He now has resource consent and this plan should be implemented in time for the 2015 Convention here in Christchurch.

Thank you most sincerely to all of the organisers. We are really grateful for the work that was put in and hope that we are able to send you home from the 2015 Convention with the same ‘GREAT WEEKEND’ feeling.

Dan Hughes Upper Plain Railway Photo: Lyn McClure

Around the pond on Dan’s railway Photo: Lyn McClure

Christine Collett’s Tram layout Photo: Michael Hilliar

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learned that the buyers had decided to restore and keep the layout, although they were newcomers to our hobby. Also, Lloyd's sister in law Joan played a large part in the excellent catering that we enjoyed throughout the event, perhaps to the detriment of our waist lines. Space limitations prevent a detailed description of almost a dozen layouts. Some were new since the last Wairarapa convention, some were more "mature", and some were modified. Folded figure 8's and "dog bone" patterns seemed popular. One prevalent theme was the use of the Aristocraft "Revolution" to control battery powered locomotives, and the relative absence of track powered layouts. Visitors were also permitted to run steam locos on some of the layouts. Later on Saturday afternoon, the programme diverted us to a hall in which a succession of presentations was held, and tables were erected for the display of new (courtesy of "Mack's Tracks") and second hand railway items for sale. Track was laid on the floor, which included working examples of pneumatically controlled points, utilising components for which Ian Galbraith is the NZ agent. The presentations focused on radio control and electronics, and were full of useful information for the relatively uninitiated. We then moved to a bar and eating area in the same hall complex and enjoyed a pleasant and convivial meal to end the formal part of the first day.

Dean Ellicock’s “Scraplands Railway” Photo: Michael Hilliar

Jeremy Were preparing molds Photo: Michael Hilliar

Jim McIntyre’s train at the turnout Photo: Michael Hilliar

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Warren Stringer, Carterton

The Wairarapa is not the easiest place to get to in NZ. We pride ourselves on being in a bit of a backwater, and for our visitors they must travel a long way to find us.

We like living here, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, where grassy paddocks and livestock prevail, and our back yards are nice and flat – i.e. just the place to build nice garden railways.

Given that we do not have a large population we think it is great that so many people in our small community here have taken an interest in building their own railways in their gardens.

In addition to visiting more layouts, Sunday included a visit to the Fell Museum in Featherston, where we were able to see a restored "Fell" locomotive and a brake van, and learn about the 77 year history of the Incline. On Monday, a few of us were fortunate enough to be able to walk the incline (in glorious sunshine) under the expert guidance of Murray Clarke, whose grandparents lived by the railway and taught at the local school. For those who may not know, most of the route has been preserved (minus the actual track, and the occasional embankment or bridge which has been washed away). The ascent (less than 5 kilometres) of the actual incline used to take around 45 minutes, i.e. the speed was only equivalent to a brisk walking pace up a 1 in 15 grade.

Dan Hughes “Upper Plain Railway” Photo: Michael Hilliar

John Seward looking for the perfect shot Photo: Lyn McClure

Chris’ live steamer at Warren Stringer’s Photo: Henrik Dorbeck

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And because we have plenty of layouts to show off we have been very happy to share them with our fellow garden railway modellers at this year’s garden railway convention.

People came from all over the country, with good representations from Canterbury, Auckland, Taranaki, Waikato, Well ington and the Manawatu. There were even a couple of Aussies over here from Canberra! Yes it was a good turnout, and the weekend was looking good for our show.

Lloyd Dickens and his committee (Dean Ellicock, Dan Hughes, and Joan Dickens) had prepared a tasty smorgasbord of a dozen layouts for us to visit and enjoy on Saturday and Sunday. This gave us about an hour at each garden to “see how the locals do things”, and to pick the brains of the creative geniuses behind each display.

The pictures here will give you a taste of what was on show. On Saturday afternoon we adjourned to the Carterton Memorial hall for the learned intellectuals amongst us to try and teach the rest a thing or two about the finer points of radio control systems, battery technologies, and how to control your points with just a puff of air. We must thank Chris Drowley, John Robinson, Ian Galbraith, and Lloyd Dickens for sharing their expertise with us here. I think that we all learnt some interesting information though I have to admit that as I get older I tend to learn by ‘osmosis’, i.e. sometimes a bit of valuable knowledge seeps into my brain, but unfortunately I fear that there is probably also a fair bit of leakage out as well…

Live steam at “Castletown” Photo: John Robinson

Joan Dickens declaring Lloyd Dickens, railway,”Castletown” officially open Photo: Ian Galbraith

Jim McIntyre's long trains Photo: John Robinson

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Being an incurable Gourmand, dinner was the highlight of my day. Having a sit-down meal at the Memorial hall meant that there was a good opportunity to socialise and to pick each others’ brains about how to build good railways – and about how to solve all the rest of the problems of the world!

The highlight of our dinner was the presentation of a ‘wobbly wheel’ award to Don Ellis from Christchurch – Thanks Wayne and Henrik for your creative input, and thanks Don for being a ‘worthy’ recipient; for those folks who did not make it to the dinner it is too complicated to explain – you just had to be there.

Just like our first day, Sunday had another busy schedule of layout visits. And once again to keep us from withering away in the warm summery weather Joan, Kay and Sue, with assistance from Dean, worked away in the background to keep us all fed and watered along the way. Lunch today was at Jeremy and Mandy’s place, where there was plenty of welcome shade under the trees to protect us from the baking sunshine.

In the afternoon we drove down to Featherston for a look at John and Carole’s train collections, then popped over to the Fell Engine museum for a good look at some preserved NZR railway history. Sadly this was also where we ended up the convention activities and disbanded until the next gathering in a year’s time. We had a great time hosting everyone at our place, and although it was a challenge to get everything ready for our big

Lee Collett’s TEE passing the silos Photo: John Robinson

On the high line at Murray Clarke’s Photo: John Robinson

Jim McIntyre’s Trailer Train Photo: Henrik Dorbeck

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weekend, it was nice to have a deadline to work to. Lloyd and his team of able workers did us proud, and together with willing assistance from our cobbers in the Wellington group we hope that we put on a good show.

Whether the weekend was a success is really a question for others to answer. We had lots of fun, and we really must do it again in a few years time. Next year our Canterbury friends have offered to host the convention on Waitangi weekend. Apparently they have so many layouts down there that they need a 3-day weekend to show us around. I am looking forward to it already.

Michael Hilliar, Auckland

Thank you Wairarapa Garden Railway Group and all those who attended; this was another great convention. Although I attended the last 2010 Wairarapa one I could see there has been quite a lot of rebuilding of layouts and a number of new ones; everyone was different in suiting their locations. You can give a man/woman the same pile of rails, wood and other equipment and each one would present a very different design.

Lee and Christine Collett as usual had their well presented railways on display and I was very impressed with the work Lee has done with the saw mill and the metal grain silos. Lee using all the skills of his trade [a metal sheet worker] had even put all the corrugations into the main body of the silos using a swaging machine adding swage by swage.

At the last convention I was converted to the benefits of the Revolution system

Jeremy Were’s “Red Rock Railway” Photo: John Robinson

Jeremy Were’s “Red Rock Railway” Photo: Lyn McClure

Warren Stringer and Dean Ellicock on BBQ duty at Dan Hughes” Photo: Lyn McClure

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and although I purchased a set it still has not been fitted yet.. Those who know me will know that I don’t rush into anything; Anyway I was given a controller to try at Dan Hughes. Little did I know I had started off another train and I was staging a head on. I was saved just in the nick of time by hitting the emergency stop! Another lesson learned, just don’t push any button. First of a number of my incidents over that weekend. The next one was with one of those pretty flowering baskets that decorates both sides of Carterton’s Main Street when I went to cross the road; it was still swinging when I got to the other side. The third was at the entrance of Summit tunnel on the Rimutaka incline; went to take a picture that wouldn’t fit; walked backwards off the bridge; very fortunate that no serious damage was done.

This was my second attempt to reach Summit station. The last expedition was also led by that great guide Murray Clarke on the hallowed ground of the Fells; but we were driven back by weather. Now I can tick this one off the bucket list.

Thank you again all of you from the Wairarapa Garden Railway Group for putting on such a great convention and those who are thinking of going to the Christchurch, do go and see for yourself.

Close inspection of the windmill on the late Beauchamp Dickens railway, now owned by Jenny and Selwyn Taylor Photo: Lyn McClure

Dean Ellicock’s “Scraplands Railway” Photo: Lyn McClure

Jeremy Were’s “Red Rock Railway” Photo: Lyn McClure

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Ray Williams, Auckland Out of bed at 0400hrs, sacrilege, it should be illegal to be out of bed before the sun comes up. “Shelley, has your car got enough petrol to get us to the airport?” “Yes dear”. It didn’t, we are behind time and I am thinking Mike will be panicking. However we make good time after all and the flight down was smooth and problem free. We picked up our rental car and then sought out a wholesome breakfast to get us through the morning. We met up with Mike’s daughter Rachael, and enjoyed lively conversa-tion and a good feed. A slow cruise to Masterton included stops at Brian’s in Tawa, Mack's Track model shop and Mainline Steam at Plimmerton. We took a short walk up the Hutt side of the Rimutaka Incline. The last time I visited Masterton was 60 years ago. I was seven years old and travelled with my mother to visit my uncle who was living there at the time. What happened 60 years ago? That’s right. The Tangiwai Disaster. Mum and I travelled on the overnight express about two weeks after the event. Mum recalls the train crawling over the Bailey bridge at a snails pace, Over the weekend my travelling companions, Mike, Peter and Bruce enjoyed great hospitality and great garden railways, many thanks to the Wairarapa team for putting on such a great weekend. (Shame about the weather though). Monday saw us walking the Rimutaka Incline with Lloyd and Murray. Bruce tramped all the way on foot and we picked him up on the other side. He got there about an hour before us. We ended our weekend with a visit to John Robin-son’s place in Tawa before catching our flight home to Auckland. I had not seen any of the Wellington/Wairarapa garden railways prior to this trip and thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. An exploratory trip to the greater Wairarapa is now on our bucket list

Murray Bold setting up the video car Photo: John Robinson

Not only trains at Lloyd Dickens’ Photo: John Robinson

Dean Ellicock’s “Scraplands Railway” Photo: John Robinson

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Ian Galbraith, Editor, Rangiora

Another great Convention. Warm weather and a friendly bunch. Plenty of ideas from the various layouts. It is great to see how each person sets out to lay track

Murray Clarke is a joiner by trade, so has the skills to work with wood (and the required tools)

Lee Collett, a retired metal worker, with the necessary skills, constructed his layout base from sheet metal (and has the necessary equipment),

Since moving from the Wairarapa two years ago, it was amazing to see the changes in railways that existed then and the new ones never seen.

Following the Dinner on Saturday a number of us drove to the BK Chardonnay Motel, where some were staying, and with borrowed track set up a loop of track on the front lawn and ran live steam and battery trains until around 10:00pm

After the visit to the Fell Museum, on Sunday, Ann & I took Alf & Lyn on a tour of what had been our stamping ground for thirty two years.

For tea, what else but the good old fish & chips. But where to eat them. Warren Stringer had earlier said that if we were at a loose end we could visit. So with fish & chips in hand we arrived at Warren & Debbie’s and asked if we could sit on the planks at the railway. In answer, I was given two boxcars, Warren, with his tea on a plate brought out a locomotive and set the train running. A second train was also set out, Debbie brought out tea and coffee, Murray Clarke turned up with a bottle of whisky and trains ran late into the evening. A great time was had by all.

Many thanks to Lloyd and his team of helpers for a job well done.

Train running on the Motel lawn Photo: John Robinson

Debbie, Ann, Lyn, Alf, Warren and Murray enjoying a natter while the trains ran Photo: Ian Galbraith

John Robinson’s Dubs “A” at the Motel Photo: Ian Galbraith

Chris Drowley’s live steam loco at the Motel Photo: Ian Galbraith

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The 2014 Convention as seen by Warren Stringer

Jim McIntyre with one of his long trains

Sue & Geoff Page all the way from Canberra

Live steam makes it’s debut at “Moa Pass” The group hunting for Moa at “Moa Pass”

There’s always one clown

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Go to John Robinson’s slide show on youtube at the following address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX3q3qra5bM further information

Sue Hughes taking care of the lunch crowd at the “Upper Plain Railway”

“Bad Day at Black Rock” ? No, a busy day at “Red Rock Junction”

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Wairarapa Live Steam Weekend

29/30 March 2014 You are invited to the Wairarapa for a weekend of live steam running.

Start 10 am Saturday,

BYO food

Pizza Evening

Dan’s on Saturday and Lloyd's on Sunday.

Dan’s layout has a minimum radius of 1.4m and is level.

Lloyd’s minimum radius is 2m and has a maximum gradient of less than 1:40.

Contact Lloyd Dickens on 06 370 3790 or [email protected] for details addresses etc

March 8‐9 2014 Mini AMRA, Kapi March 29‐30 2014 Live Steam Weekend , Masterton April 18‐21 2014 NZAMRC Conven on, Hamilton May 4‐10 2014 Na onal Garden Railway Conven on, Tampa, Florida June 2014 Model‐X, Auckland October 4‐5 2014 Christchurch Model Train Show February 6‐8 2015 9th Na onal Garden Railway Conven on, Christchurch May 30‐1 June 2015 AMRA Conven on Auckland, North Shore July 6‐11 2015 Na onal Garden Railway Conven on, Denver, Colorado

Coming Events

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Sunday 24 March dawned with a slight overcast in Rangiora, but the outlook was for a fine afternoon.

We got an fine sunny afternoon and had much enjoyment running trains on Alf & Lyn’s railway.

Alf was enthused by what he saw during the Convention that he has already drawn out plans for alterations and extensions to the railway.

Around thirty members attended the running day, and following afternoon tea, just as a number were leaving, the expected weather change came in. Trains were quickly rushed to shelter

and then the heavens opened and a heavy hail storm arrived. The hail was the size of a large marbles. Luckily, Lyn’s circus

only suffered minor damage with fences down and people and animals scattered.

Running Day on “The Kippenberger Line”

Lyn’s circus takes centre stage as members sit and talk Photo: Glen Anthony

Glen’s train on the lower track as Don Ellis’ European passenger train passes on the top line Photo: Glen Anthony

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The trams preparing to leave Photo: Glen Anthony

Alf’s FA1 and train descend to the low line Photo: Glen Anthony

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Don’s European [passenger train passing the lake on the upper line Photo: Glen Anthony

And then the hail came down. Left: Ian’s passenger train Before, and Right: After Three photos: Ian Galbraith

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Ashburton Forks Railway Workshop Report & Photos: Kerry Paterson, Ashburton

Work is progressing well with the new engine shed. Most of the framing is now done, ready for the cladding. The timber has been cut from old pallets. The wood has a nice straight grain which makes it very useful for modelling

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In February I ran my Pacific passenger locomotive and train on Brian Allison’s “Brookwater Bahn” railway. This is a newly established railway with a lot of rocks, retaining walls and landscaping.

Brian now has two live steam locos and one was put through it’s paces.

A visit to the Brookwater Bahn Notes and Photos, John Lammiman

9th National Garden Railway Convention Christchurch

6-8 February 2015.

At the 8th National Garden Railway Convention held in the Wairarapa over the weekend of 15-16 February 2014, members of the Christchurch Garden Railway Group presented a proposal for the 9th Annual Garden Railway Convention to be held in Christchurch. It was explained that there were a number of new layouts not previously viewed and that a suitable venue was available for in house activities and the Dinner on the Saturday evening.

The proposal was accepted, and a number of Expression of Interest forms were filled out and returned.

The supporting information for the proposal to host the 2015 Convention in Christchurch Photo: Ian Galbraith

THE GARDEN WHISTLE

Additions to the Rosebrook Railway Photos: Lee & Christine Collett, Carterton

At the recent Garden Railway Convention, Lee intimated that changes were soon to be made to the “Rosebrook Railway”. He already had the track and rack, and at the time of the convention, was just waiting on the rack loco to arrive. In the days following the convention, the loco arrived and the photos show progress on this stage of the railway

THE GARDEN WHISTLE

T H E G A R D E N W H I S T L E

New Zealand Garden Railway Contacts

There are a number of Garden Railway Groups in New Zealand. Most have Running Days at least once per month, Summer and Winter. With one or two exceptions where

the Large Scale railway is indoors, the majority of the railways are situated in gardens. Some are at ground level, while some are raised. Listed below are the contact details for the various Groups

The Garden Whistle is produced by the Christchurch Garden Railway Group and includes information about the activities of the various Groups and their members

Auckland Club Contact: Auckland G Scale Society Inc

C/- Michael Hilliar, 22 Halver Road, Manurewa, Auckland 2102. h 09 266-4745

Email: [email protected]

Waikato Club Contact: GROW: Garden Railway Operators of Waikato!

Grant Alexander, PO Box 1172, Cambridge. Ph 07 823-0059. Email: [email protected]

Wairarapa Club Contact: Wairarapa Garden Railway Group. C/- Lloyd Dickens, 55 Titoki Street, Masterton.

Ph 06 370 3790. Email:[email protected]

Wellington Club Contact: Wellington Garden Railway Group

C/- John Robinson, PO Box 56039, Tawa, Wellington 5249 Ph 0274 427 160 Email: [email protected]

Christchurch Club Contact: Christchurch Garden Railway Group

Chairperson: Don Ellis. P.O. Box 7145, Christchurch 8240

Ph 03 365 6555 Email: [email protected]

9th National Garden Railway Convention

6-8 February 2015

CHRISTCHURCH

The Convention will be based at the Russely Golf Club and Conference Centre, Stableford Green, (off Memorial Avenue) Christchurch.

(Approximately 2 minutes from Christchurch International Airport)

I am interested in attending the 9th National Garden Railway Convention hosted by the Christchurch Garden Railway Group .

Please keep me informed

Name: ..............................................................................................

Address: ..........................................................................................

.........................................................................................................

Town/City ........................................................................................

Phone: ..............................................................................................

Email: ..............................................................................................

I prefer to be contacted by Email Post. (Strike out that which is not applicable)

This Expression of Interest form may be returned by email to:

[email protected]

Or posted to

National Garden Railway Convention 3 Church Street

RANGIORA 7400

NOTE. The details you provide, above, will only be used by the Convention Committee and will not be made available to any other organisation

G Scale news from around New Zealand MARCH 2014 · THE GARDEN WHISTLE A brass ‘Cowcatcher’ (no...

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Transcript of G Scale news from around New Zealand MARCH 2014 · THE GARDEN WHISTLE A brass ‘Cowcatcher’ (no...